Darryl Register, Executive Director, Baker County Chamber of Commerce
Darryl Register, executive director of the Baker County Chamber of Commerce, sat down with Invest: to discuss the chamber’s goals looking ahead, how the local business community interacts with the organization, resources available for new businesses looking to relocate and more.
What were the Baker County Chamber of Commerce’s contributions to the Jacksonville region in the past year?
When I wear my chamber hat, we are supporting local businesses, mostly in the Baker County area. We are a smaller community, 40 miles out of Jacksonville. When I wear my economic development hat, we have been working really hard to attract industry, new jobs and new investment in our community. A couple of really nice commitments have come out of that work, one of which being Plant Agricultural Systems Inc. They have committed $750 million over the next 10 years to build an 8-million-square-feet in hydroponic greenhouses to grow vegetables. Almost 700 jobs will come out of this project. It is a transformational impact for our community.
What resources are offered to local businesses by the chamber?
The biggest element is exposure to local and smaller businesses that do not have the resources to advertise as much. The exposure they get through our chamber website’s membership database gets an amazing amount of traffic hits through internet searches. We connect our local businesses together so they can do business with each other, as well as help promote one another.
How does the chamber support businesses that are new or looking to establish themselves in Baker County?
The chamber works closely with our local governments, and all of the permitting and regulatory aspects of this, to help new businesses navigate through those processes in the best possible way. We want to make sure they have the contacts and resources they need to get through all of those regulations that come with starting up a business and help them promote that business to a customer base.
What initiatives have been launched by the chamber to drive economic development in the region?
As a smaller rural community, we at one point had a real shortage or lack of industrial properties available for new industry to locate on. The Economic Development Board made the investment to purchase property and get them ready for development. It was a government-owned property where we were able to utilize an incentive to attract industry here. It was shovel-ready for development, and we were able to work with companies through offering a property for free or at reduced costs. Logistics, distribution and advanced manufacturing are the main industries being targeted by the county. I jokingly tell people that my targeted industries are any that will return a phone call.
Most of our partners are through our member database. Many of our members are supportive and willing to step up to support initiatives and projects the chamber is trying to get done, either in providing advocacy or funding.
What processes are in place supporting economic development in the region?
The chamber works closely with CareerSource Northeast Florida, and I have been on their Board of Directors. In Macclenny, we have CareerSource’s regional office. Locals can go there to get connected with businesses looking for employees. They can also get into a statewide database to see all the jobs posted in the state. If they see something in particular that may not be available here, they still have access to it through CareerSource.
What other opportunities are there for businesses to get involved in supporting or benefiting the chamber?
Chamber membership supports us through sponsorships for the events we do, such as our Independence Day celebration. Several years ago, we started an opportunity for local businesses and governments to invest in our economic development programming separate from chamber operations. This has really boosted our economic development efforts to be able to market and support the things we are doing here to attract industry, such as land development.
What are your long-term goals for the chamber, and how do you plan to achieve them?
I would like to see the chamber’s membership continue to grow. I would also like to see the business community continue to grow. We will always be considered a suburb of Jacksonville, if you will, but we can be so much more than we are today and still be considered that suburb. Right now, about 64% of our working population is forced to leave the county every day to go to work. The goal is to continue working toward bringing more good jobs here so people will not have to make that drive to go to work.
